The two companies will explore how datma's federated ecosystem can support Rhythm Biosciences' diagnostic development efforts as they shape a future commercial agreement.

-- datma, a leader in federated real-world data access, and Rhythm Biosciences Ltd (ASX:RHY), a leading developer in predictive cancer diagnostics technology including its geneType^™ risk assessment portfolio,  announced an exploratory collaboration to evaluate how datma.FED, datma's federated data platform, could support and accelerate the commercialization of Rhythm's genomic-integrated cancer risk prediction portfolio.

As genomic-integrated stratification tools evolve, access to high-quality real-world data is becoming more important for supporting development, improving model performance, and broadening clinical relevance. However, the data sets needed to advance these capabilities are often difficult to access due to fragmentation and privacy constraints. datma.FED addresses these challenges by enabling secure, federated access to de-identified data across participating healthcare organizations without requiring data to be centralized or moved.

Through this collaboration, datma and Rhythm Biosciences will assess how longitudinal, de-identified real-world clinical data accessible via datma.FED may contribute to the continued development of Rhythm's genomic-integrated risk scoring technologies. Rhythm intends to explore the use of these datasets to support clinical utility evidence generation and health economic modelling, which are important considerations in discussions with healthcare systems regarding adoption of population-based risk stratification tools.

"We are excited to collaborate with Rhythm Biosciences as they continue advancing genomic-integrated risk prediction to support cancer diagnostics," said Noah Nasser, Chief Executive Officer at datma. "datma.FED was built to enable secure access to high-value data across institutions, and this collaboration reflects the growing demand for federated access to data that can support development and research efforts, whether in diagnostics, therapeutics, or real-world evidence generation. Partnering with Rhythm marks an important step in demonstrating the broader impact and versatility of our platform."

"Access to high-quality real-world data is increasingly important in demonstrating the clinical relevance and potential utility of genomic-integrated risk prediction tools," said Dr Erika Spaeth, Director of Clinical Affairs at Rhythm Biosciences. "This collaboration allows us to explore how federated data access can support evidence generation for geneType™ as we continue to advance our portfolio and engage with healthcare systems on future implementation pathways."

Rhythm Biosciences is focused on developing scalable, population-based solutions to support cancer risk prediction and earlier detection. The Company's geneType^™ risk prediction tool is designed to enable economically viable, personalised screening approaches within healthcare systems, with the potential to improve screening compliance and optimize resource utilization.

As part of the collaboration, cross-validation of GeneType^™ within federated real-world datasets represents an initial step toward supporting clinical utility and informing discussions with healthcare systems regarding population-stratified screening models. Subject to successful validation, further partnership discussions will ensue, including utilizing the geneType^™ technology within datma.FED.